Paper-feeding mechanism



D. NOBLE.

PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM.

-APPL|CATION FILED FEB. 12. 1919.

1,424, 1 1 6, Patented Jul 25, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- INVENTOR Donak] N0 678 BY I TTORNEY D. NOBLE.

PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12. 1919.

1 A24, 1 1 6, Patented July 25, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. v

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WITN ESSE$1 D. NOBLE. PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12, 1919.

Patented July 25, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

DONALD NOBLE, OF BRIDGEI-ORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANU': FACTURING COMPANY,'A CORPORATION- OF NEW JERSEY.

PAPER-FEEDING MECHANISM.

conti nuation in part of application Serial No. 232,744, filedMay 6,1918.

ruary 12, 1919. Seria11\To.'276,609.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DONALD NoBLn, a subject of the King'of Great Britain, residing at Bridgeport, in the county "of Fair-.

therein to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention relates to improvements in paper feeding devices, and more particularly to paper feeding devices to be used in combination with that type of per forating machine disclosed in the application of Noble, #232,744, Mayb, 1918, of which this application is a part continuation.

In such machines a hollow punch, or cluster of punches, is reciprocated vertically above a bed plate and a strip offiexible material such as paper, is employed beneath the work to insure the passage of the punch or punches through the full thickness of the work to produce a clean cut, and at the same time to avoid dulling of the cutting edges of the punches. T

The invention is designed primarily to provide means for supporting a supply of paper in the form of a roll, for feeding'and guiding the same over the bed plate independently of any feeding movement of the punch mechanism, and for rerolling the same as it is fed from the supply roll.

The invention is further designed to provide means whereby the speed of travel of the paper over the bed plate may be varied, this being found desirable when employing different styles of punches.

The supporting means for the supply and used portions of the paper are made to be readily interchangeable, whereby rewinding of the paper upon the supply roll is eliminated and the efficiency and speed of the machine operation increased. I I

The desirable features of construction and improved combination of parts are fully described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanylng drawings and assembled and pointed out in the appended claims. 7

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a perforating machine, with parts shown in section, embodying the invention;

Specification of Letters .E'atent.

cally reciprocate a Patented July 25, 1922..

This application filed Feb- 3 Fig. 2 is a detail View from the left hand end of the machine on an enlarged scale, with parts shown in section; 1

Figs. 3, 4- and 5 are detail views illustrating the construction of the reel forsupporting the paper roll;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view of a part of the paper feed drive, and I Figs. 7.to 11 are detail views of a reel for supporting thepaper roll provided with a modified form of driving mechanism.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates the base portion of the machine having rising therefrom at one end thereof ahollow, column or post 2, carrying an overhanging hollow arm. 3. A drive shaft 12flis suitably mounted within the hollow arm 8, and is provided at one end thereof with fast drive pulle s 21an'd 26, an idler 24, and a hand ends with rollers 52 and 53, respectively,

adapted to be engaged by cams 50, 51 fast upon the drive shaft 12, whereby to vertipunch mechanism presently described.

The base member 1 is provided near its left hand extremity with a slightly raised portion 126, upon which is secured in any suitable manner a work plate 127, having a central opening 133 therein'through which projects the upper portion ofan anvil 129,

mounted upon an adjustable member 132 in anopening'128in the base member.

The punch or perforating mechanism comprises a cluster of punches 7 6 suitably mounted at the lower end of a vertically reciprocating rod 67, said rod being properly guided in its vertical movement in a bracket member 64. Links 59'and60 are pivoted at a point adjacent the lower end of the vertically reciprocating rod 67, and serve to suspend the saidrod and its component parts from the arm 44 of the before mentioned lever member, adjacent the mounting of the roller 52iupon said arm 44.

It will be readily seen thatthrough the action of cams 50, 51 alternately contacting with the rollers 52 and 53 carried upon the ends of the arms 44 and 45 of the lever member, said lever member will be rocked about the shaft 43, thus imparting the desired reciprocating motion to the punch or perforating mechanism through the medium of the links 59 and 60.

As the foregoing mechanism comprises no part of the present invention, the above brief description of the same is thought suflicient to impart a clear understanding of the operation of the machine and itsrelation to the invention herein claimed, a detailed descrip tion of which is hereinafter set forth.

Thedrive shaft 12 is provided at its right hand extremity with an eccentric acting upon rotation of said shaft to reciprocate the connecting rod 37. Mounted in suitable bearings provided in the rear portion of the base 1 is'a rotatable shaft 145, said shaft extending at its right hand end into the lower portion .of the hollow column 2. Pivoted upon the extremity of the shaft 145 is a lever 146 having the longer arm 147 thereof extending forwardly and slotted at 148 for the reception of a bolt 149 adjustably secured in said slot by a thumb nut 150. At its lower extremity the connecting rod 37 is pivoted to turn upon the bolt 149 whereby rotation of the'shaft 12, through eccentric 35, serves to produce a rocking motion of shaft.

the lever 146, the extent of which rocking motion may be varied by adjustment of the bolt 149. To the shorter end 151 of the lever 146, at the point 152, is connected a pawl device adapted through suitable ratchet mechanism, fast upon the shaft 145, and indicated generally at 152 to produce an intermittent rotation of the shaft. The pawl and ratchet device may be of any known construction, such for example as shown in the patents to Noble, #1,032,621, Jul. 16,

1912 (Figs. 5, 6, 7) or Noble, #763,624, Jun. 28,1914 (Figs. 1 and 2), but forms no essential part of this invention and is therefore not described in detail.

The shaft 145, at its left hand extremity, has fast thereon a pulley 153. Adjacent said pulley 1.53 is a feed roll 154 fast upon said 155 is a bracket mounted for slight pivotal movement in boss 156 formed upon the rear of the base member 1. Journaled for turning movement in said bracket is a shaft 157, said shaft being suitably held within'its bearing bracket 155 by collars 158, 159, fixed to said shaft. The shaft 157 normally extends parallel to the shaft 145 and at the extremity thereof is provided with a roll 160 fixed thereto and adapted to cooperate with the roll 154 of shaft 145.

Adjacent the roll 160, the shaft 157 is sup ported in a bearing member 161, said bear- .ing member being pivotally supported upon the shorter arm 162 of a lever member pivoted upon the base member at 163. The longer arm of said lever is provided at the point 164 with a downwardly extending pin arranged to be supported within the coils of a compression spring 165 pocketed within an opening 166 in the base member 1. The lever member is formed with a finger piece 167, whereby said lever may be depressed against the action of the spring 165 and the rolls 154 and 160 separated to facilitate the insertion of the paper strip which forms the punch cushioning means, and which will be hereinafter described. Fixed to the shaft 145 at 167 is a gear meshing with a gear 168 fixed upon the shaft 157, said gears serving to transmit a positive driving motion from shaft 145 to shaft 157.

Bolted in any suitable manner as by bolts 170 to the underside of a bench 169 upon which the base 1 is mounted, is a supporting member or sleeve 171, said sleeve having supported for vertical sliding movement therein abracket 172. The cylindrical portion of said bracket which slides within sleeve 172 is provided at one side thereof with a groove 174. A screw pin 175 having threaded engagement with a suitable opening in the sleeve 171, is provided with a reduced portionadapted to enter the groove 174. The pin-and-groove guiding connection thus af-' fordcd prevents turning movement of the bracket with respect to the sleeve, while at the same time permitting free vertical movement of said bracket within. the sleeve. Rotatably mounted within the bracket 172 is a shaft 176, said shaft having fixed upon its left hand extremity a pulley 177. The. location of the sleeve 171 with respect to the base member 1 is such that the pulley 177 lies in the vertical plane of the pulley 153 on shaft 145 but below the same, said pulley 177 being driven by a belt 178 from said pulley 153. By locating the drive for the paper feed below the plane of the work plate, the latter is left entirely free and unobstructed for manipulation of the work, a feature of considerable advantage in machines of this type.

,A paper receiving reel or spool 178 is fixedly mounted upon the sight hand extremity of shaft 176, and is rotatable therewith. The supporting bench 169 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and is provided below the right hand portion of the base member with a bracket 179, said bracket having at 180 a downwardly projecting spindle or pivot member, upon which is mounted to turn freely in a horizontal plane a supporting arm or bracket 179 said supporting arm being held in proper relation to said spindle by means of a collar 180 fixed upon the lower end of the latter. The free extremity of the supporting member 179 is provided with an upwardly extending pintle 181 upon which is mounted for free turning movemzent in a horizontal plane a supply spool 1 8.

The'paper receiving spool 178 and supply spool 17 8 are of identical construction as follows,'-182 is a hub member having a reduced portion 183 and provided with a longitudinally extended journal opening 184. A substantially flat circular disc ofv a diameter exceeding that of the diameter of the roll ,of paper commonly supplied to machines of'this character is provided at 185, said disc having a central opening adapted for the reception of the reduced portion 183 of the hub member 182. A second disc 186 is provided of a diameter approximating that of the central opening in the roll of paper employed, and is formed with a central opening'similar to that formed in the disc 185, said second disc being thereby adapted to be slipped upon the reduced portion 183 of the hub 182. The disc 186 is provided with a series of spaced apart upstanding resilient fingers 187, herein forming a circular series extending around the entire circumference of the disc 186, and designed to engage within the central opening of the roll of paper. While as herein shown such fingers are arranged in a circular series it is within the scope of the invention to provide a lesser number, in some cases two being sufiicient for the purpose. The'upper ends of these fingers may, if desired,'be'bent inwardly as at 188. ,189 is a washer having a central opening adapted for the passage of the member 183 of hub 182' and being further provided with a series of openings 190.

"In assembling the parts above described, the disc 186 is threaded onto the part 183, the portion of larger diameter of hub 182 being located within the fingers 187 and serving to limit inward movement of the same. Following the placing of the disc 186 upon the hub member, the disc 185 is mounted thereon followed by the washer 189. Screws, not shown,'are then inserted in openings 190, passing through similar openings in discs 1'85 and 186, and are arranged to have threaded engagement with suitable openings in the hub 182, whereby the parts'are securely heldin proper relative position. The spool 178 is mounted upon the shaft 176 to rotate therewith, but tobe freely removable therefrom, by the following means. 191 is a collar fixed upon the shaft 176 adjacent the end of its bearing in bracket 172, said collar beingprovided with an outstanding pin 192. The washer 189, discs 185 and 186, and hub 182 are provided'with a series of aligned openings of which that in the hub 182 is in dicated at 193, said openings being designed for the entry of the pin 192. It will now be seen that by slipping the hub 182 upon the extremity of shaft 176., with the pin 192 located in the opening 193, the reel 178 will be caused to turn with the shaft .176, but may readily be removed therefrom as oocasion may require.

The upstanding-portion of the frame member 1 is provided at its front and rear portionsv with beveled surfaces 194, 195, said surfaces leading up to and into the forward and rear portions of the opening 133 formed in the work supporting table 127, said beveled portions being in alignment with beveledportions 137, 138 ofthe punch anvil 129. The beveled portions 194, 195 and 137, 138 serve to properly guide the paper cushioning strip P to receive the blow of the punches.

The operation of the above described parts is as follows. Supporting arm 179* having been swung forward to bring the pintle 181 out from beneath the bench 169, and spool or reel 17 8 having been placed upon said pintle 181, a roll P of paper 'forming the cushioning strip P, is forced down over the resilient arms 187, and permitted to rest upon the disc 185. The end of the paper strip is then led along beneath the bench 169 to an opening 196 formed in said bench, and positioned to guide said strip for engagement with the beveled surfaces 194 of the frame 1. The end of the strip is then led upwardly through this opening, over said beveled surface 194, over the beveled portion 137 of anvil 129, across said anvil, thence downwardly over beveled surfaces 138 and 195 and between the rolls 154 and 160, the latter having been raised by depression of the finger piece 167 of-the lever 162. The paper is then led downwardly through a second opening 197 formed in the bench and is passed down to, and secured about one or more of the fingers 187 of reel 17 8 in'any desired manner. Arm 179 is now swung back under the bench, carrying reel 1'78 with it. Upon rotation of the shaft 12 of the machine the shaft 145, through the connections described, is caused to rotate intermittently, thereby through the rolls 154 and 160 to act positively to pull off the paper strip from the reel 178 Simultaneously with such movement the pulley 153 through belt 17 8 causes rotation of the reel 17 8, thereby winding up the paper strip upon said latter reel.

It is evident that as the paper strip is wound on the reel thediameter of the roll,

which is the winding diameter of the reel,

will gradually increase, whereupon more and more paper will be wound at each revolution. As the feed through the machine is determined by the speed of the feed rolls 154 and 160, and does not vary according to the size of the paper roll, a reel speed proper when the roll is small would be too great as the roll increases in size and would break the paper. Owing to the free vertical movement of the bracket 172 within the sleeve 171, it is evident that as the paper roll increases in size greater effort applied through the driving belt is required to impart a uniform tension because of the increasing lever arm through which the tension acts on the reel. This increasing effort is provided automatically by the increasing weight of the reel, as it is filled, acting to tension the driving belt. The amount of slippage. increases, however, as the tension is increased since a slower rotation of the reel is required for the same rate of feed the weight of said bracket serves to properly tension the belt 178','which slips more and more as the paper roll increases in size so that substantially the same winding effect is exerted for all effective winding diameters of the reel.

lVhen the paper strip has been entirely wound on reel 178, the support 179 will again be swung forwardly, the empty reel 178 removed therefrom, and the reel 178, which now contains the entire paper strip, will be placed upon pintle 1S1,'the reel 178 placed upon the shaft 176, the end of the paper drawn from reel 178 and threaded through the machine and connected to reel 178 to be rewound thereon and the support 179 will be swung to its rearward position.

In a machine of the type to which this invention is particularly applicable, it is customary to use interchangeable anvils having paper guide grooves which cause the paper strip to travel beneath the punch in such a manner that either the center surface of the paper strip or the surface to the right or left of the center of said strip is utilized for receiving the blow of the punches. It is obvious that should the machine be operating with an anvil which so guides the paper as to use one portion of the strip to one side of a center line of said strip, that when said strip is completely used from the supply reel and wound upon the receiving reel by the comparatively simple operation of changing the reels from one mounting to the other as above described, the opposite and unused portion of the surface of the strip will be positioned to receive the stroke of the punches and a considerable economy in paper is effected. v 1

Furthermore the previously described paper reel and feed mechanism is of particular advantage, in that it obviates the necessity of rewinding the paper each time the full length of the strip has been used, there by saving both time and labor. The speed of the travel of the paper strip may be varied as desired, by means of the adjustable intermittent drive previously described.

It has bee-n found that when operating this machine at high rates of speed, say 800 R. P. M. or above, the intermittent actuation of the winding reel 178 has av strong tendency to break the paper strip. especially if it be of poor quality. To obviate this disadvantage at high speeds, a modified drive mechanism shown in Figs. 7 to 11, hasbeen devised. In this modification the belt 178 passes over' an actuating pulley 177 which is loosely mounted on shaft 176 to which is fastened the reel. Fixed on shaft 176 by means of aset screw 301 is a collar member 300, having in one face thereof a. recess 300. It is also provided with an annular flange 302 having a radial slot 303. Pulley 177 is provided with a recess 30 1, and an annular flange 305 having aslot 306. Flange 302 is adapted to fit within the recess 304, and flange 305 extends within flange 302. A coil spring 308 is loosely mounted on shaft 176, one end of which spring engages in any one of suitable openings 309 in collar member 300, the plurality of openings allowing for adjustment of the spring tension. The other end of spring 308 extends outwardly through the slots 306 and 303, and is engaged with pulley 177 in a suitable opening 310 therein. By this construction it is seen that the belt 178 drives the reel through a resilient connection, which serves to decrease the initial shock on the paper at each motion of the drive mechanism and prolongs the period in which the impulse is given to the reel so that at high speed a practically constantdrive is imparted thereto although the actuator opcrates intermittently. Rapid fiuctuationsin the winding effort of the reel are thus prevented. by this resilient drive, While the slower change which wouldotherwise occur through the changing effective winding di ameter of the reel as it becomes full is. prevented by themounting of the reel which allows belt slippage.

It is to be understood that the devices herein described and illustrated constitute a simple and preferred form of the invention and that various changes in detail and modification of structure may be made such as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention having been described in full, together with. its mode of operation what is claimed as new is,

1. In a paper feed mechanism for perforating machines, in combination, a supporting bracket, an arm pivoted thereto to swing in a. horizontal plane, and a pivot member carried by said arm constructed and arranged to support a paper supply holder for rotation in a horizontal plane.

2. In a paper feed mechanism for perforating machines, comprising means for feeding thestrip of paper, means for delivering a supply of paper, and means for winding the used paper, the combination of a support having a vertically disposed cylindrical guide member, a bracket fitted to and slidable upon said. member and provided with apin-and-groove connection therewith, a horizontal shaft journaled in said bracket, a drive pulley upon one end of said shaft,

means for driving said pulley, and a paper receiving reel operatively engaging the other end of said shaft.

3. In a paper feedmechanism for perforating machines a shaft journaled in fixed bearings and having a gear and a feed roll carried adjacent one extremity and a drive element near its opposite extremity, a pivoted bracket having a journal opening there in, a second shaft journaled in said opening and normally parallel to said first shaft, a gear fixed to said second shaft adjacent said bracket and engaging the gear upon said first shaft, a feed roll carried by the second shaft arranged to cooperate with said'first feed roll, means for swinging said second shaft to move its roll toward and from the cooperating roll and means for driving said first shaft.

4:. In a perforating machine, in combination, a supporting bench, a machine frame mounted thereon and carrying a perforating tool and a slotted work-support cooperating therewith and a pair of paper-feeding rolls beneath said work-support, a paper-receiving reel disposed beneath the supporting bench with its axis in substantial parallelism with those of said feeding rolls, a driving connection between said reel and feeding rolls and a paper supply reel mounted beneath said supporting bench and rotatable upon a substantially vertical axis, means being provided whereby a strip of paper is led from the supply reel through said bench and the slots of said work-support to the feed-rolls and thence through the bench to DONALD NOBLE, 

